


Seeking Refuge

by Aileuromania



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 07:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1542350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aileuromania/pseuds/Aileuromania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the draenei left Draenor, the orcs had driven them to seek refuge. Amongst the camps, a pair of twin sisters and a mage man befriend each other despite familial objections. When friendship for one sister becomes love, the world becomes harsher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chance Glance

The haughty draenei woman kept a tight grip on her daughters' hands as they made their ways around the campsite, her face disapproving as she looked around at all the new refugees flooding in.

“Ugh!” she declared in a voice which carried across the square. “Don't go near them, my darlings! You just don't know what they have carried with them from the diseased parts of this planet!” The dirty looks she got from those newly arrived didn't seem to faze her – in fact, they seemed to spur her on to greater heights. “We just don't know which of them have had their faith in the Light tainted! Disgusting!” And she raised her pert nose in the air and flipped her skirts away from where a small family were gathered despondently around a blanket.

“Mother!” the girl with the pink ribbon in her hair sighed. “We were refugees too, weren't we? Why are you saying those nasty things about them? Did they say them about us, too?”

The other girl, with the blue ribbon in her hair, just looked at the first and crossed her eyes, making a face.

“No! Because we were smart enough to leave those areas before the corruption got to us!” she sniffed, glaring around the crowd with a disdainful eye. Pink-ribbon, however, caught the eye of a boy sitting on the blanket her mother had so rudely stalked away from. He looked so sad, his face strained and despondent, she smiled a little, hoping a friendly face would cheer him up and thus apologise for her mother's disgusting behaviour. When he wearily smiled as well, his dark grey skin lightening a little, she waved just a bit, so her mother wouldn't see.

“Get away from there, Erialen!”

Then she was yanked away, the boy disappearing from view.


	2. Partings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadness ensues when childhood friends are forced to part.

It was sporing season in the mushroom forests of Zangarmarsh – only a short time as far as seasons go, but one of many sneezes for the draenei who lived there. The soft particles rose and drifted on the air like glimmering sparkles, and the children of Zangarmarsh romped and played amongst the deep drifts in great delight.

Yet there was one little boy who was not enjoying himself this day, and his two little female companions were concerned. Why, only yesterday it had been he who had developed the “Rush” game, where they each took turns running at the drifts, sending the spores spiraling off into the air. It had been – of course, as it almost always was in games of physicality – Eriara who had won it, sending her drift so far that she almost slid from the edge of the huge mushroom, but they'd all had a wonderful time.

But today his face was like a small grey thundercloud, and efforts to talk to him had been gruffly rebuked. Eriara finally shrugged and went back to her “Rush” practice, but Erialen stayed behind, her pink ribbon sagging into her face again as she sat down next to him. With an irritable flip, she knocked it away, and looked at the huddle of draenei misery.

“Jhadim, what's wrong?” she said, looking at her friend with softly glowing eyes. The boy's face grew even colder and he turned away, muttering something under his breath.

She frowned. “What?” she said, and smacked the back of her hand against his arm. “I hope it's not my mother again. She can be so annoying sometimes.” Then she whispered conspiratorially, 'Sometimes I wish she'd just shut up.” She looked around, as though terrified she would be overheard, but the only one nearby was the still romping Eriara, who to judge by the number of spores all over her clothes was having a fine time by herself.

“No.” the boy sullenly replied.

“Then what?”

A long pause filled the air with silence as the little boy chewed on his lower lip. Then finally, when Erialen was on the verge of pushing him over and pummelling it out of him, he whispered,

“We're leaving. Tomorrow.” And his arms crossed his chest in restrained anger.

“Oh wow, no!” Erialen said as Eriara came running over, leaving a sparkling trail of mushroom spores behind her.

“What?”

“He's leaving, Eri!”

“No!” And the sparkling girl plunked down on her tail beside her sister, their faces almost identically dismayed as they regarded their friend.

“I hate it.” he ground out, his throat sounding raw as he stared off into the distance. “Everytime we move somewhere and I make some friends, my parents pick me up and I have to leave again! I hate it!”

The ribbon fell down into Erialen's face again, and she moved to flip it back, but paused, and pulled it from her hair.

“Do you think you could talk with your parents?” she said, trying not to cry, blinking back large tears in those luminous eyes of hers.

“Can you talk to yours?” he countered sourly, and she had to cede him the point.

“Oh. Well. Here.” and she held out the ribbon to him, which he took with a numb hand. Beside her, Eriara gave a startled gasp. “It's something to remember us with. You know, so you know you have a friend somewhere..” She gave him a watery smile.

“Mother's going to kill you!” Eriara gasped, even as she removed the ribbon from her own and shoved it at him.

“And you.” Erialen would have giggled at her sister, but this was too horrible a moment to laugh in. Their friend was leaving – yet another in a long line of people who had been in their lives and left. The war had a lot to answer for in the social lives of the small ones who inhabited the camps, but their brief friendship with the small boy had been a joy filled one.

Jhadim took the blue ribbon and nodded, twisting them together with his grubby boy hands, face sad and cold as he tried not to show it.

“When are you leaving tomorrow?” Erialen voiced the question both twins wanted to ask.

“First light.” he said, swallowing. “I'm supposed to be helping them pack now, but they wanted me to say goodbye to you guys. But I'm coming back here one day. They're not keeping me away forever!” And he began to gnaw on his lip again, working away at the flesh there instead of the emotions that were gnawing at him. But suddenly he exploded, leaping to his little hooves in extreme aggrivation, throwing his hands in the air.

“I hate this! I hate it!”

And he ran away sobbing, leaving two little girls crying in each other's arms.


	3. Time and Time Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time passes and children grow into adults. In the camps Erialen and Eriara have grown into young women establishing their own identities, and hear word of an old friend looking for them.

Time passes. Children grow up and things move on.

It had been a long time since that magical spore season, and life had continued on into increasingly dire situations. The refugee population hadn't faded notably with the demons, orcs and blood elves rampaging against the draenei cities, but it was when Shattrath City fell that the pressure was really felt in the swamps. So many injured, so many mouths to feed – it was only natural that childhood fell away for the sisters, and their paths started to diverge.

Erialen was pressed into service as a healer early on; the day her father was brought in from the hunting parties torn and bleeding from an encounter with one of the nether rays that infested the swamps. The Anchorites who had attended him had been impressed with her devotion to not only her father, but to the Light as well, and had asked her mother for permission to take her into training with them. Good healers were always needed, they said, and she would be close enough to be able to stay with her family while she worked. Her mother had readily agreed, crowing to all and sundry about the honour her beautiful daughter was bringing to her household, and so Erialen took her first steps towards becoming an Anchorite herself.

Eriara, on the other hand, was much more given to exploring and being away from the main crowd as much as she could. After her father's accident, a gap was left in the hunting parties and the adolescent woman readily took it, her affinity with the wilds proving worthwhile whilst hunting their food staples. Her training was more of a practical kind, learning how to fire basic crossbows and track the spoor of their prey, and she blossomed alone and free from anyone. She became increasingly quiet, generally only speaking to Erialen when they managed to meet.

And so life continued on as had become usual in the swamps, with little variation.

“Ahh, my beautiful Erialen.” Their mother was in an expansive mood that day, running her fingers through her daughter's straight hair with a smile on her face as the woman attended to her basic theological studies. “I am so proud of you, I cannot say. Everyone speaks of you attention to duty and how well you heal, already!”

Erialen blushed a deep purple in reply, but didn't raise her head. She knew what was coming, and tensed herself for it.

Sure enough, the woman turned around to advance on the other twin lounging in the doorway, her leathers smeared in swamp mud and animal blood, her crossbow swinging idly at her side.

“Why can't you be more like your sister, eh?” she chided, flipping her hands at her, her face turning to one of disgust. “Look at you!” She picked the lapel of the woman's vest and flapped it in her face. “Do you have to get all the mud from the entire swamp and track it into my home? It's not much, but it's what we have, and it's better than most! And yet you stink it up. When are you going to make yourself useful, eh?”

“Mother!” Erialen couldn't help herself and sat up, her eyes blazing. “If it wasn't for Eri and her hunting, we'd go hungry a lot more than we do! All of us, not just you.” She gestured around the room, but was indicating the entire settlement.

The small woman puffed herself up now, her face darkening as she readied herself for a tirade. However the leather clad woman in the doorway just sighed, and grasped her sister's hand.

“We're going out.” she muttered, pulling her unresisting sister after her.

“Don't come back then!” came the howl from behind them as they stepped into the cool night air. “You bring shame and humiliation upon all of us!”

“Oh, whatever.” both sisters said in unison.

There were few around in that cool evening – the smoke from the campfires was beginning to dissipate as people doused them and settled in to sleep. Yet there were still a few people bustling around, generally around the area people were starting to call the “inn”. Erialen and Eriara were beginning to be well known here, for everyone knew the tendancies of their mother, and this wasn't the first night she had thrown them out.

“Hello, Eris!” the self appointed innkeeper greeted them with a cheery wave, drawing them both a long drink of a red liquid from a nearby vat and handing it to them. Erialen smiled, while Eriara nodded. “Mother throw you out again?” he asked with sympathy.

“It won't be long before she comes to find us again.” Erialen said diplomatically. “She always does.”

“I know, but it's not exactly fair on you two, is it?” Putting a fatherly hand upon their shoulders, he gently guided them towards the fireplace, much as he had so many nights before. “Here you go, ladies – best seat in the place tonight.” He smiled, and stepped away, before turning with a slight frown on his face.

“Oh, I almost forgot. There was a man in here tonight, looking for you. One of those arcane types to judge by his clothing. You'd best be on your guard.”

“Arcane...” Erialen started.

“...types?” Eriara finished, the two twins looking at each other in confusion.

“For Eri or I?” Erialen asked, setting her drink aside to warm by the fire.

“He said both of you. I'll let you know if I see him again.” Then he grinned. “I sent him over to your mother's place.”

Eriara snorted a short laugh of derision, shaking her head in dark sympathy. Erialen's laughter was a little more open as she chuckled ruefully, feeling sorry for the one who was currently incurring their mother's deferred wrath.


	4. Found Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Eri twins and Jhadim meet again.

The woman was even more painful than he remembered, ranting and raving about the evils of daughters left to run wild in this horrible place, the injuries she personally had suffered from their lack of care and compassion, how they had torn her heart out and stomped on it with uncaring hooves. “After all the love and time I have given them, after I nearly died giving birth to them, this is the thanks they give me!” she wailed, throwing her hands in the air, tears rolling down her cheeks as she gave vent to her feelings to the near stranger at her door.

In the end, he couldn't stand it any longer, and as politely as he could manage in his irritation, he stepped away from the doorway and back out into the night, leaving the woman crying to the night.

“You dirty mages! You ruined it for us all!” he heard her bellow, and he shook his head. Shoulders slumping, he made his way back to the lights of the inn. She hadn't even told him where they were, just started raving the moment he had said their names.

He had been alone for quite some time now on his journey here, delivering a consignment of supplies to the distant settlement, but he had been glad of the trip, remembering this place fondly as the one bright spark in an ever moving childhood, travelling from camp to camp as his parents tried desperately to leave their despair behind them. In the end it hadn't worked and they had gone their seperate ways. To a point he sometimes wondered if it was his fault – perhaps if they hadn't had the added pressure of a child to look after, they may not have ever left each other. However he did exist, and they had split, so he knew he could only work from that reality.

He had considered that perhaps his two little friends had grown and moved away, the same as he had, but he had felt a thrill of nostalgia as the innkeeper had told him they were still residents of this camp, though his descriptions of them were quite different to the memories he cradled of his childhood playmates. Of course, they would have grown, he realised. After all, he knew that he himself was markedly different to the boy he had once been. He was looking forward to seeing them again, however, no matter what they now looked like.

His mind was full of disappointment and memories as he walked in, the blue robe of his order billowing around his feet. He didn't even notice the innkeeper's head snap up to regard him as he passed; instead, he found his way to a corner and withdrew a small braid of material from a pouch. It was frayed and much fingered, but the faded cloth still held a faint colouring of pink and blue. He smiled a wry half smile and regarded it a while, remembering days of sparkling air and joyful play, annoyance playing in his mind at being so close, and yet so far.

“Eris!” The innkeeper all but crept to the fireplace, looking towards a far corner of the complex. The two women halted their quiet half conversation and looked at him as he approached, eyes wide. “He's back. The man who was asking about you!”

“Does he still have a face?” Eriara murmured, and her sister jabbed her in the ribs with an elbow.

“Eri!” she laughed, gracefully getting to her feet. “Well, I guess we should go and see who it is.” she continued, gesturing with a small move to her sister, who looked ceilingward and nodded, making a face as she stood.

“Are you sure?” The keeper hovered attentively behind them as they moved through those gathered in the inn in the direction he had indicated.

“If we're not fine here, with you and everyone here,” Erialen soothed, “then we won't be, anywhere. I'm sure we'll be fine.”

“Alright.” came the dubious reply as he showed them to the far corner.

The man was a bulky draenei, his long blue hair plaited and hanging far down behind his back, they could see, as he was side on to them. He wore a robe, but not the usual white of the Anchorites – indeed, it was the blue of the magic users. In the dim light they could see his grey skin as he bowed over something, studying it with gentle fingertips. He was young, but had travelled far, with the dust and mud of many miles marking his clothes.

The two sisters paused and looked at one another. There was something awfully familiar about him.

Into the silence, Erialen cleared her throat.

“Excuse me,” she said in her lilting alto voice while Eriara ranged up behind her, crossing her arms across her chest. The man looked up as she continued, “We understand you were looking for us?”

His eyes widened as he looked at them, and quickly got to his feet, the item he'd been studying being held to his side as he beamed.

“Eri? And Eri?” He looked from one identical face to the other, noting the differences in clothing and demeanour in them – Erialen was frowning a little in confusion, but her expression was open, curious. Eriara however was glowering in distrust, her leathers smelling slightly in the close quarters. “You don't remember me, do you?” He sounded a little crestfallen, but shrugged.

“You do look familiar...” Erialen mused, squinting at him in the dim light. Then her eyes strayed down to the the cloth in the big man's hands, and she looked at it for a long moment.

“Jhadim?” she whispered uncertainly, looking at the line of his jaw, the shape of his eyes, which blazed in joy as he nodded. “Is that you?”

Eriara glanced from her twin to the man, still scowling, though her arms uncrossed as she regarded him.

“Oh, by the Light!” Erialen laughed, abruptly leaping forward to wrap her arms around the astonished man. “It's really you? Really?”

Almost numbly he put his arms around her as well, his lips quirking with repressed emotion, so pleased to have been remembered, all but stammering his reply, “Yes, it really is!”

Eriara continued to say nothing, instead watching her twin in askance. Sweet little Eri had never acted this way before, and it was strange to her that she was now. She was normally much more reserved – perhaps Mother had finally pushed her over the brink.


	5. Reforged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erialen and Jhadim become more than friends, while Eriara becomes aloof and distant.

“She's changed.” Jhadim said quietly as he sat with Erialen later by the fireside, looking out towards the doorway where Eriara stood leaning against the doorway, looking out into the night.

The robed twin smiled sadly and nodded.

“She spends a lot of time alone now, hunting, working with the food gathering crews.” she replied, taking a sip of her drink. “She does it to get away from our mother, and these last years have been really hard. I think a lot of things changed for us after Father was injured.” She held up a hand to stave off the man's concerned query. “He's alright.” she said quickly. “But his confidence was really shattered after that, and he's not really been the same since. Eri's taken it on herself to take on his role, and Mother doesn't like it. Eri's become Mother's favourite target.”

“Why don't you guys just leave?” He spread his hands. “You're certainly old enough.”

“That day's getting closer.” Erialen looked out towards the doorway, caring eyes on her sister. “I think she only stays around because I'm still here. And I'm still here because of my training.” She laughed sourly. “The Anchorites arranged it so I could do my basic training here and stay with the family. And they turn a blind eye to the fact she throws one or the both of us out every other week.”

Jhadim made a disgusted noise deep in his throat, but didn't say anything. The expression on his face, however, spoke volumes.

“But what about you?” she asked, pulling at his sleeve. “Why in the Nether are you wearing a magus robe? I always thought you'd end up an engineer like your father!”

He laughed now, throwing his head back in abandon. “Well, my father would still kind of like me to, I think. That was the impression I got in his last letter to me a while back. And I am still good with an Arclight spanner.” He shrugged. “But my parents split a while back...” Erialen gasped a little in sympathy and put her hand on his. He paused a moment, but continued on. “...and he left us. So I found myself roaming Shattrath..."

"You were there during the Fall?" she gasped, the stories she had heard from the survivors of that battle being horrific at best. However, he shook his head and she was inordinately relieved.

"No, we got out in time. But when I was there, I bumped into some of the remaining mages left. They told me I had potential, and as I came to learn from them, I realised that by denying our innate magic, we were actually playing into Sargeras' hands. I mean, think about it. If the Legion wanted our magic for their own purposes, wouldn't it make sense to use it for our own, against them?”

“Well, I suppose so.” Erialen said, obviously trying to wrap her well indoctrinated and dubious mind around this concept. “But I think I'm going to have a bit of time to think about it.” And she smiled weakly.

“That's ok.” he replied, taking her hand in his. “I'm not going anywhere for a while.”

From the doorway, Eriara glanced at them out of the corner of her eye and smirked.

The twins had been reaccepted back into their family home after a night in the inn, their mother weeping and screaming before the settlement, begging that they return and stop being so stubborn, hurting their mother so. The new people all looked at her in sympathy, but the long term residents had glared at her, turning their backs on her as she ushered her erring children home with smiles and effusive praise to them.

Jhadim had watched this with thinly veiled contempt, knowing that it was useless to try to talk them out of this action. Their mother's hold on them was still far too strong. All he knew he could do was stay and wait, to be a support to his old friends when they needed it. Because he knew that sooner or later, they would. He knew it. So he joined the engineering team, doing repairs for the burgeoning settlement and becoming a valued member of the community over the subsequent months.

“How long do you think it'll be before it gets here?”

Every evening, after Erialen's studies were over and Jhadim was finished with his duties, it became a ritual between them to seek one another out, two bright sparks in increasingly dark days. Food supplies were becoming scarcer and the hunting teams were having to range farther afield to supply the camp, and the smoke of burning seemed to fill the air, even though the war had not yet reached their swamp.

There were even more worrisome things starting to happen amongst them, however. A sickness raged, particularly amongst those from the other swamp communities; an illness not even the skilled Anchorites of the sanctuary could cure. It was a malaise of the soul, they said, a blinding from the Light which defined and directed the draenei people, and warped them from the proud, beautiful people they were into something else, something broken inside. And so that was what they were starting to become known as, the Broken.

Jhadim shrugged at Erialen's quiet question, looking out across the sea of mushroom tops from his position beside her, seated as they were upon one of the balconies that ringed the sanctuary's stalk.

“I don't know.” he replied, his eyes focused upon the eastern horizon where a red glow could be seen, even though it was nowhere near dawn. “But soon, if you can believe the talk from the travellers at the inn.”

The silence stretched between them as they watched the flickering red light in the distance.

“They also say that the Prophet is talking about gathering together a force to take Tempest Keep.” Erialen said softly, shivering a little in the night's cool air. Jhadim looked at her and without thinking removed his cloak, wrapping it about her shoulders, his hand lingering as he made sure it was placed warmly about her. She smiled weakly at him, patting his hand. “The Anchorites are even talking about it, so there has to be some truth to it.”

“Anything has to be better than sitting here and waiting to die.” he said glumly even as he smoothed the cloak into place and turned back towards the view.

“Always the lighter view with you, isn't it?” Erialen chuckled, lightly chiding her friend, nudging him in the side with her elbow, but her voice sounded a bit hollow in the darkness. “There's always hope, you know.”

“Yeah right.” he muttered. “So has your mother found anyone worthy of you to marry yet?” The words sounded like a change of topic, but somehow, it wasn't, and Erialen bowed her head.

“She says there's no one here worthy of either of us. Not even Eri.” She used the inflection to indicate she wasn't talking about herself as she glanced upwards before sighing. “And then she starts going on about how people now aren't the same as when she was younger, blah blah.” She snorted. “I wish she'd just shut up.”

Jhadim rocked back, looking at his friend with a quirk to his lips, his eyes glimmering with a kind of amusement. “That's unusual for you to say.”

“It's the truth.” she grumbled back at him. “She's been really irritating lately, more than usual.”

“In what way? I mean, is that possible?”

His dry tone made her laugh, and she looked at him fondly.

“I suppose you're right.” And she sighed. “But speaking of, I guess I'd better get back home before she comes out looking for me. She really doesn't like me hanging around you.”

“Why not?” he scoffed.

“'That dirty mage, putting his greasy hands on my daughter!'” she sourly mocked in a recognisable imitation of her mother's thick accent as she rose to her feet. Jhadim stood with her, holding his hands to her.

“So – tomorrow night, then?”

“Always!” Erialen replied with an engaging wrinkle of her nose as she took the proffered grasp.

There was a pause as they touched, and looked at one another. The night air was cool about them as they felt the connection between them, and the sanctuary fell away from them as they moved toward one another. Time slowed. The things unsaid between them pushed them together, and Jhadim lowered his face to hers.

Their foreheads touched as they looked into one another's eyes, and for a moment, life didn't seem quite so dire.


	6. Wrenched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erialen's mother becomes aware of Erialen and Jhadim's sexual relationship, and reacts abusively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note: sexual situations, nudity and parental abuse are in this chapter.

The sweat of their bodies covered them, intermingling with their closeness. Their breaths came fast, so soon after great exertion, but now they gently held one another, smiling, their eyes only seeing each other.

The relationship had progressed much as love in wartime does; quickly, passionately, with a depth neither old friend had ever suspected they were capable of. When one doesn't know when the next raid will come, the next attack will take the lives of those closest and dearest to them, the need to experience their all becomes rampant, and soon simple walks and conversations around the complex had become clandestine meetings to express this physical need.

Eriara knew, of course. It was impossible to keep anything from her twin, and the knowing look on her face as she looked at Jhadim was overt enough to make him blush several times. However, the spectre hanging over their heads was not Eriara, and they both knew it.

And now they lay intertwined in each other's arms, and they were complete.

“I want you to come away with me, Eri.” he whispered into her ear, nuzzling against her neck tentacles in the way that made her chuckle so sensually. “You know she's going to find out sooner or later.”

Beneath him, she sighed, looking away. “I know, but I can't just leave her. And what about Eriara?”

“Well, she can come too.” he said easily. “But she's not going to be a full part of what I have planned.”

“What are you talking about?” she laughed, running her hands along his strong back.

He looked at her seriously for a moment, his chest rising and falling with the import of what he was about to say, looking her over and knowing there was no other choice. He was hers, and there was no other way.

“I want to give you my eternal vow.” he murmured, looking deeply into her eyes. “I want our souls to be linked in this life. If I father children, I want you to be their mother.”

“Jhadim...” she whispered in reply, seeing the earnestness on his face and loving him even more for it, an ache in her throat catching her breath as she loved him even more than she thought she had. “Of course I accept it!”

She embraced him, pulling him back down to her to catch him in a breathless kiss, their bodies leaning into one. Their kisses slowed, deepened, passion beginning to rise to the surface as they lay in the comfort of each other.

Nothing good ever lasts.

She felt the scream in her mind before she even realised what was going on, so wrapped in Jhadim she lay. But his immediate response to her was to pull away from her, demanding,

“What?”

She hadn't even realised she'd called out, but she could hear the word she had yelled echoing around in her mind before she felt something grip one of her horns and yank her head up.

“Get off! Get off her, you disgusting thing!” Jhadim gave a woof of surprise as Erialen's mother lashed out at him with a foot, falling to the side more from the astonishment at being caught in such a compromising position rather than the force of her kick. “How dare you do this to my daughter, you magic addled pig! You demon! You Eredar!” She levelled another kick at the stunned man and hauled her erring daughter to her feet, still gripping her by the horn, and pushed her face into hers.

“And you! You slut! Have you no consideration for your family! For me! Oh how the settlement must be laughing at us, spreading your legs for this thing!” She hauled her towards the front doorway, the pain of the contact driving through the younger woman's skull, and Erialen had no choice but to scrabble to keep up, not even being able to catch her robe to cover herself as her mother pulled her out into the light.

“Mother!” she cried in horror, “You can't take me out here like this!”

But the pull was inexorable, and she was being dragged right through the most populated part of town.

“You did this to yourself!” she spat back, her head held high as she towed the naked draenei along. “Your sister I expected this of, but you? You, my sweet little Erialen? How could you do this to us? To me, your own mother? Dishonouring us with your slatternly ways!” Another yank on her horn made her head ache blindingly, and she staggered along, her spine aching with the effort to keep up and bow down to the shorter woman's grip.

Behind her, Jhadim jogged quickly behind, his pants back in place as he threw her robe towards her, so at least she was given the dignity of being able to cover her front with the rumpled cloth.

“Well, you're grounded until I am satisfied!” The woman hadn't stopped her diatribe, and all the refugees and workers in the compound had turned to look at the strange procession. “Oh no, no more training, or school for you, my young one. And certainly no more trips to that inn of yours. And you think I didn't know? The whispers being fired at us because of your consorting with this monster!”

“He's not a monster!” Erialen was blushing from head to foot, not only with embarassment at having her nakedness displayed for all to see, but with rage at what her mother was doing. “I love him! Please let me go!”

“Of course you love him! He's a magic user! He has you ensorcelled!”

“It's Anchorites that know that magic, not magi!” she fumed impotently, her horn being cruelly twisted in her mother's hand.

“And you know so much more than me about it now. When did you graduate as an Anchorite? I'm upset you didn't invite me to the ceremony!”

After an agony of time they were at the doorway to her mother's house, but she had slowed, then stopped, releasing Erialen, who reached up to rub her head gratefully and slip her robe on around her nudity.

Before them stood four people – two Anchorites she knew from the refuge, one male, one female; Eriara wearing a bleak look of rage upon her features as she glared at her mother, and their father, his pale arms crossed as he regarded his wife.

“No, Sutchka.” he said softly, implacably as Jhadim ran up behind Erialen and put his arm about her shoulders. “This time you've gone too far. You've embarrassed her in front of the whole town, and that's just not right.”

“Well, you weren't doing anything about it, so I had to go get her!” And she threw her hands into the air, an expression of long suffering on her face. “It's always me that has to discipline these children, no matter how they stab me and have me bleed all over the floor, never you!”

“What you have done is not right.” The tall Anchorite crossed his arms, his muscles rippling beneath his robes. “We are now taking her away from your care and placing her in our own accommodations.”

“No!” Sutchka gasped, going abruptly pale, too shocked by this to even mount an initial complaint.

“She's an adult.” the other Anchorite continued. “She's entitled to her own choices now, and what you just did there was beyond contempt. It'll be up to her whether she sees you again or not. I'd encourage her not to, at this point in time.” And she glanced at the fuming woman in leather beside her, and nodded curtly. “The same goes for your other daughter.”

“Sutchka, just let them go.” their father urged, placing a large hand on his wife's arm, shaking his head sorrowfully.

“Go, then.” the mother said hoarsely, her eyes bright with tears. And she turned and shouldered her way past the blockade and disappeared into the shelter.

The father looked at his children, regret in his eyes. “I'm sorry, girls.” he said deeply. “I've played a part in this, indulged her fancies too long, at cost to you. And I'm sorry.”

Now he looked at Jhadim, his eyes hardening.

“You should have given her your vow.” he said contemptuously. “I don't like what you've done, but I have to live with it. I'd prefer you didn't see her again, but she's going to choose what she wants. Make sure you're worthy of it, mage.”

He turned towards the house.

“I'd better make sure she isn't destroying our things. But if there's anything left of yours once she's finished, I'll make sure it's sent to you.” he said through bowed back. And he too stepped into the shelter.

An uneasy silence descended over the gathering, and slowly the crowd about them diminished as the entertainment for the day ended. Finally only the twins, Jhadim and the two anchorites were left in the place, the three young people looking stunned.

The two priests moved, touching the shoulders of the two young women in their turn, particularly lingering on Erialen, who stood shivering in Jhadim's embrace.

“The inn will take you in tonight, and we'll arrange that shelter for you soon.” the female promised, and out of habit, Erialen curtsied. “Come, you should get in away from these prying eyes.”

Shakily Erialen pointed back over her shoulder.

“I... need to go get... clothes...” she whispered, and Jhadim held her tighter.

“I'll get them. Just go to the inn now.” he gently urged.

“No!” Tears glimmered in her eyes, but they did not fall as she clung to her lover.

“I'll get them. I know where they are.” Eriara's voice was dark and brooked no argument as she stalked off, heading in the precise right direction for where the love nest had been.

There were no further impediments to movement, and the Anchorites led the two half clad people to the inn.


	7. Judgements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eriara determines that she will never allow her twin to be hurt again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References to abuse.

Her heart raced as she stalked through the town, daring them to say something, anything to her. After all, they'd all just stood there gawking as their mother had dragged her sister – her other half! - through the town in such an embarrassing display. And had any of them stepped in to do anything about it? Had they ever stepped in to do anything about any of it? No. A place to sleep, some tea and sympathy, but never getting to the root of the evil amongst them.

And now poor Eri...

She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't get it out of her head. The resonances of her sister's loving still echoed in there. She'd become accustomed to it after these last few weeks as Erialen and Jhadim had finally broken down those barriers, she'd experienced it as an echo of the reality; images in waking, impressions as though from sleep, but the way it had ended was distressing in and of itself.

From her self appointed watchpost she had seen Mother stalking towards the place they'd hidden themselves to make sure they went undisturbed, and that had shattered it all, leaving her trembling on the brink. The shrieks of outrage had washed away any pleasure from the shared experience, and Eriara screamed too, determined that this was as far as it was ever going to go. But no... Mother had quickly taken it that step too far.

And so Eriara had run, run to the Anchorite centre and let it all go, telling them of the outrage that was happening even as they spoke, her distress and urgency apparent even to the most harried of the overworked priests. And so they had followed, demanding their father come out and attend to the madness the woman was enacting upon her own, and they had finally ended this, leaving the twins to pick up the pieces.

And now Eriara just wanted them to say anything so she could vent this chest full of pain and shared embarrassment out on someone. Why hadn't anyone stepped in before?

The slings and arrows hadn't hurt her. All the jabs and jibes her mother had fired at her hadn't bothered her a jot; the woman was a narrow minded idiot, after all, and had eaten of the food she provided just as any one else had. She'd learned a long time ago just to keep her mouth shut and ignore it. It was just hot air, and after letting it wave over her, she'd usually just go and find something new to go and complain about. Either that or Eriara'd go and spend a night in the Inn. But this!

She'd watched her sister grow and bloom with Jhadim's influence, and she had never been so happy; there was hope for at least one of them to be able to get out of here, to actually have a normal life. Maybe, it had told her, that if their childhood friend could come back alive and hale, and wanting to have a relationship with one of them, perhaps the wars would finally end without the extermination of the draenei people, and they would all be able to move on and get out of this cesspool.

It was a very dark Eriara who stalked across that compound, every muscle tensed for a fight. And she would win, because the rage inside her needed release. However it seemed that everyone in the refugee camp could feel the cold hate around her and steered well clear, or perhaps it was the acute embarassment they felt for not having acted before it came to this. Eriara hoped so. She hoped that they never forgot how they felt, and that it ate at them forever.

Because if Erialen was permanently hurt by this, blood would flow. It was inevitable.

They were staying at the Inn now after having been removed from their family shelter, their mother and father in disgrace for their conduct towards the two young women. It was comfortable enough, and the innkeeper would make sure they had the best positions in the limited space; out of guilt or a sense of duty, if nothing else. However it was going to be impossible to avoid the stares there, and the whispers were rife in this place with a lack of entertainment.

Eriara knew she could escape it anytime she chose – the hunting parties were almost constant, and the groups she went out with didn't waste energy on useless words which would scare away prey or on pointless speculations. Speculations didn't feed a town, after all. They went out, they hunted, they brought back the kills, they slept, they went out again. It suited her perfectly. Yet she was painfully aware that Erialen had no such option, and knew she had to help protect the better part of herself.

That was why she had come here now. Feeling the link between them, the intense shame her sister was going through, she knew she couldn't let her go through anything else than was needful, so she had volunteered for this, knowing that Eri needed to cling to Jhadim right now.

The curtains were still pushed back as she went into the disused shelter, and she sighed, looking around the dim room and its disarray. Clothes were strewn here and there as though they'd been kicked aside, and the driven woman stooped to collect them, checking three times to ensure she'd gathered them all, both her sister's and her sister's lover's. Bundling them into a discreet package, she sighed, looking around the room with saddened eyes, blinking away tears no one would ever see. No one could see them; one of them would always have to be strong, and if she couldn't do this for Erialen, then who would?

She bent her head to the clothes in her arms and inhaled. They still smelled like them, her sister, the lover. The dam burst, and now she wept, tears of rage, of shame, of love.

And no one would ever see.

The eyes of the world were upon her, looking and judging, always watching. No matter where she went, there was a judgement to be drawn against her, an opinion to be given, a thought to be shared.

She hated it. If she could have she would have stayed in the shelter like her parents did, unwelcome amongst the settlement as they now were, but she had little choice with her training to be finished. So she raised her head and did what needed to be done, though it was perhaps the hardest thing she'd ever done.


	8. Joining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erialen and Jhadim are avowed to one another.

Theirs had been a simple ceremony at the Anchorite sanctuary, a fine mist of rain cleansing those few who had been invited. Dressed in the robes of their respective Orders, Erialen and Jhadim declared their dedication to one another, eyes only upon the other, though the words stumbled a bit as they failed to express everything that was truly between them.

Eriara had been there as witness when they signed the marriage contract, the legal tie which ensured both would care for one another and any issue which should come from this union equally. The woman had glowered over the gathering, the only joy showing on her pinched face when Erialen had embraced her, face alight with happiness after the documents had been signed. All wondered exactly what was going on in the huntress' mind, for she was unreadable, even to her twin.

Their parents were not, being the pariahs of the camp. None had told them of the impending ceremony, or indeed that Erialen and Jhadim had decided to declare – it was a request of Erialen that they be left completely out of it; one which Jhadim wholeheartedly agreed with. Enough damage had already been done without being given a further chance at it.

However it was the later vow, given to each other in the privacy of their own shelter, which was the more binding for each of them. Souls whisper in the darkness to one another, and as they lay in each other's arms as man and woman, they bound themselves to one another in more than just the flesh.


	9. Together, Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life continues on, but an increasingly embittered Eriara refuses her sister's offer of company and a place to live.

Time continued on in the camps, the reports of destruction and deaths a constant part of their daily lives. The red glow on the horizon was a constant thing now, angrily reminding them all that soon even this sanctuary would be lost. They had lost contact with several of the swamp settlements, most notably Boha'mu to the south, and none knew if the Legion had destroyed them or if sickness and despair had Broken them.

Fear was a large thing in the camps. Tempers were fraying and there were now many scraps amongst the refugees. More than once Jhadim was sent out to repair machinery or shelters destroyed in a fight at the same time Erialen was dispatched to heal the wounds of those caught in the fracas. And more than once, it was Eriara in the middle of it.

“Eri...” Erialen was hesitant to ask the day she had healed her sister of a massive gash across her face, the mark of yet another brawl over something insignificant she'd found herself in the centre of. “You know you're welcome to come and stay with us...”

“...No!” came the totally expected rejection, Eriara's newly healed face darkening with her dismissal of the thought, though her eyes softened as she regarded her earnest sister. “You and Jhadim don't need me hanging around you. Privacy is a big thing in this camp, and you guys need this.” She held up a hand as Erialen opened her mouth to protest, and the robed woman closed it again.

“I'm worried about you.” she said softly, and Eriara engulfed her sister in a bearhug.

“Don't be. I can look after myself.” And she sighed as she released her. “I just want to...”

The words were left hanging as both siblings looked out across the dirty compound, a shadow wrapped around each of their hearts; together, but alone.


	10. The Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Velen calls the faithful to join him in taking Tempest Keep, and decisions must be made.

There was a commotion in the courtyard on that fateful day, and the Anchorites had stopped their tutoring to allow the students to join it. Erialen still inwardly cringed at being amongst so many people, remembering the eyes which had so burned her the day she had been dragged across the town, but she forced herself to go, raising her head high and greeting anyone who looked at her with a smile and a tight nod.

Jhadim was standing towards the back of the crowd, arms crossed as he looked for her, his moustached face only lightening as she approached. His arm slipped around behind her as she stepped in against him, resting her head comfortably upon his shoulder.

“What's happening?” she asked quietly, her words only intended for him.

“I don't know.” he intoned in reply as he held her to him. “We were repairing that holograph displayer all morning...” He indicated the barely visible piece of machinery with a large hand. “Something about an important message coming in. I wonder if the Prophet is up to something?”

“The Anchorites were all excited about something, but they wouldn't tell me anything.” she replied. “They just said we'd see.”

“Typical.” Erialen had known her sister was there, having stepped up behind them as they'd been speaking, but Jhadim gave a start as she spoke.

“Could you give us some warning before you sneak up on us?” he grunted, and the leather clad woman nastily grinned in reply.

“Should be used to it by now.” she smirked, slowly looking him up and down as she stood beside them, crossing her arms before her.

“I wonder if it's about the trek to Tempest Keep?” Erialen said curiously, standing up on her hoof tips to see over the crowd.

“Do you want me to lift you up?” Jhadim asked sardonically as she supported her weight against him, and she chuckled as she stepped down again, looking at him apologetically.

“Sorry.”

There was a movement in the crowd now, a subtle shift forward. Something was happening, and the trio stepped forward with the rest of the camp, craning their heads curiously to see what was going on.

There were so many people in the way, it was hard later to say what was actually said and what was hearsay from those around them. Yet they all remembered the image of the Prophet, unbowed after so many millenia of life, standing tall and determined before them, as his heavily accented tone spoke of pain and loss, of love and Light, of the annihilation of the draenei people.

They wouldn't ever remember the exact words he said, but they did remember the call to go to Tempest Keep, the passion in the old draenei's words fuelling a collective fire amongst the dry tinder in this tinderbox, and the young ones stood, fervourently agreeing to accompany Velen in his cause. For it was their cause - anything is better than waiting to die, and at least this way they would be living rather than merely existing as they were now.

And who knew? Maybe they just might succeed.


	11. Goodbye and Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins decide whether or not to say farewell to their abuser before leaving.

It was nameless, reaching out of sleep to ensnare her. She was pushed from sleep yet again, waking up within Jhadim's arms and staring into the darkness as she waited for her paniced heartbeat to fade, for the tendrils of the thing which grasped her to disappear back into her memory where it belonged.

She sat up carefully, trying not to awaken her husband, willing her body to stop its trembling as she perched upon the side of the pallet. Then she stood, grasping her robe and pulling it around her, stepping outside into the cold night air.

She didn't even notice the small points of light that marked her husband's gentle concern as he watched her.

“Can't sleep?”

The voice came to the side as she stepped out of the shelter, and she turned towards it, though wasn't surprised. She knew her sister would be there, and so she was, propped against the wall of the shelter.

“Like usual.”

“You need to sleep better, you know.”

“So do you.”

A laconic shrug answered that as much as the huntress was going to, and Erialen sighed.

“I'm going to go see them.” she said after a moment of looking across the compound, getting an exasperated sound in reply.

“Ugh, why?” There was no other “them” it could be, not with that dark tone.

“They're our parents, Eri. Despite it all, they are that. No one sees them anymore, save for the meals people give them, and for them not even to know where we are, what we're doing... I just can't live with that.” Wearily she pressed a hand to her right eye, rubbing cold fingers into her flesh.

“I can.” came the condemning reply. “Eri, they don't care. They only ever cared when we did what they wanted. Why should we consider them now?”

Erialen sighed, shouldering herself deeper into her robe, the night air's chill grasping her through the thin cloth.

“Because I'm not them.”

“I agree with Eriara, Eri.” His voice was needfully soft in the night, but Jhadim's deep tone still rang resonantly in the darkness as he stepped out of the shelter and straightened, looking at them. “You don't need to do this for them. You owe them nothing.”

The priest sighed again, shaking her head ruefully.

“I need to do it for me.” Because I'm tired of the dreams.

A silence stretched out across the trio, two crossing their arms before themselves against the world about them, the other looking from one face to the other of the most important people in her life, willing them to understand.

“There's just one thing I ask, then.” Jhadim finally said.

“Anything.”

“Don't ask me to come along with you.” he said condemningly. “I will wait outside for you, but I won't go in. I don't know what I'd say, and I'm not going to make this harder.”

“Of course.” Erialen put a gentle hand on her husband's arm, the pain which had suddenly risen in her throat seeking to throttle her, but she understood.

“Do I have to come?” Eriara asked sullenly, looking down, and her sister nearly laughed. She knew her sister far too well to be fooled by that act.

“That's completely up to you.” she replied. The huntress harumphed as her answer. They both knew she'd be there.


	12. Facing Doom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbyes are made, and the true nature of parents revealed.

The mood in the dim room was tense as the small woman looked without expression at her erring daughter. She crossed her arms, her face set, her eyes flashing pure fury even as she stared the other woman down.

"How can you do this to me?" she abruptly declared, raising her hands to the ceiling in a mannerism of the long suffering. "How can you do this to your father and me? You have taken a knife and stabbed me, right here!" Dramatically she swept a hand down and covered her chest with it, shaking her head sorrowfully before indicating the bulk of the large man sitting quietly with his head bowed at the end of the small table nearby.

"Don't involve me, Sutchka." he warned quietly, not even bothering to raise his head. "I honour the Prophet, and if she wants to go follow him, who are we to stand in her way?"

Eyes flashed as the woman turned on her husband. "So! Even you betray me with your talk of the Prophet. I honour the Prophet! I honour the Light! And you compare me to the Broken. You twist the knife in my soul..."

"Mother!" The young woman wore a naturally solemn expression, though her eyes were wide with concern as she reached out to the gesturing lady. "They need me. They need my healing; and if we don't go and fetch this Alliance the Prophet speaks of, we will all die. Or worse." She swallowed. "Please understand."

"You were our miracle child." the woman continued, playing to a non existent audience like the greatest of scenery chewers as she sorrowed and ignored the pleas from her daughter. "You and your sister, miracle children. Twins! Who had heard of twins from the draenei? But no!" And she flung her hands into the air again. "You wish to take yourself away from me, to get yourself killed in the greatest folly this world has ever seen! " She turned now to the final player in the scene, an exact replica of the first daughter, her long black hair flowing down past her shoulders as she silently watched the drama. "You can convince her, Eriara!" And she grasped at the one named now, who remained quiet. "Don't let her go into this madness."

Eriara said nothing, instead pushing a lock of hair behind her tentacles as she continued to watch.

"You care nothing for your sister?" And the mother rolled her eyes, tearing up as she wailed, "What have I raised?"

"We care about the future, Mother!" the first daughter exploded, stamping one hoof in frustration. "You raised us to follow the Light, and that's what we're going to do! All I ask..." and her voice softened. "...is that you wish us luck and give your blessing. Please?"

"Blessing?" And the mother's voice cracked. "How can I bless your death?" And she turned away. "Go." she whispered. "See if I care."

With an exasperated sigh, the other did just that. Swinging a simple bag over her shoulder, she paused to kiss her father on the top of his head, smiled weakly as he gripped her arm momentarily in silent tribute, and walked out from the room.

The only sound to be heard for a moment was the weeping of the bereft mother until Eriara stood from her slumped position against the doorjamb.

"By the way," she said lightly, almost conversationally. "I'm going too." And before anything could be said, she had.

* * * * *

"And that, sister mine, is why I wasn't going to tell her." It hadn't taken long for Eriara to reach her sister. In fact, she hadn't even taken the elevator down from the large mushroom their refugee camp was built on yet, but instead stood in the arms of a large robe-draped male who was doing his best to console the grieving woman whilst attempting to keep his disdain in check; notable to Eriara only in the sour quirk of his lips beneath his drooping moustache.

"She could have at least said good luck." the other woman said bitterly.

"You knew she was never going to." The voice was deep and rich, and he sighed as he said it. "Everything you've told me about her says she only wanted you to do what she wanted. I'm surprised she didn't disown you, Erialen."

"Like she has all those times before? Funnily enough I was always allowed back when I did what she wanted." She made a small frustrated sound deep in her throat, then laughed sourly despite herself. "Aren't you glad I never told her about you?" And she gripped the robe wearer more tightly about the middle, resting her head upon one large shoulder. He barked a laugh in reply.

"That fight will come later when we return from Tempest Keep and she realises we're married."

Eriara shuddered in quiet dread, and stepped towards the platform.

"Let's go." she said.

"Yes." said Erialen, letting her man go and shouldering her bag. "They're expecting us."


End file.
